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Cloud computing has hidden environmental costs because the technologies used to connect to it are highly energy inefficient, says a Jisc report

The document from the university ICT organisation’s TechWatch service,Low carbon computing: a view to 2050 and beyond, says data storage and mounting capacity requirements will be a major test for university ICT managers, but that cloud computing has hidden environmental costs.

Such costs are due to the high energy consumption of the network technologies used to connect to data clouds, the report says.

According to Jisc TechWatch, which examines how technology developments could affect higher and further education, the environmental benefits of cloud computing are dependent upon the greenhouse gas associated with the client and that associated with the cloud.

Jisc is preparing a series of reports into academic use of cloud computing.

Gaynor Backhouse, director of TechWatch, said that the sector uses huge energy hungry data sets and needs to share services and to find ways of generating its own power.

“Universities and colleges must do far more than a few quick hits afforded by small behavioural changes and interim technology developments,” she said.

“They must start to work together across the sector to implement much bigger plans for a sustainable future, and the report provides some guidance as to how this might be done.”